The price of XRP may experience notable growth due to a substantial increase in trading volume. If the XRP Ledger (XRPL) can process Hidden Road's entire trading volume, its network traffic and market activity would surge significantly.
Ripple's expansion strategy recently led to a $1.25 billion acquisition of institutional brokerage firm FXCM. This move highlights Ripple's focus on serving institutional clients and expanding its influence in traditional finance.
Ripple Confirms RLUSD for Post-Trade Settlement
Following the acquisition, Ripple confirmed its proprietary stablecoin Ripple USD (RLUSD) will serve as the core tool for Hidden Road's post-trade settlements. Since RLUSD operates on XRPL, most transactions will flow through the XRPL network.
While XRP isn’t directly used for settlements, it is burned as part of transaction fees, gradually reducing its total circulating supply.
Hidden Road processes approximately $3 trillion in annual trading volume. If these transactions migrate to XRPL, the network’s activity could skyrocket. To assess the potential impact on XRP’s price, we analyzed insights from Grok, xAI’s AI chatbot.
Grok Identifies Key Factors Influencing XRP’s Price
Grok explained that predicting exact price movements is challenging due to multiple variables, including:
- Hidden Road’s actual trading volume
- Proportion shifted to XRPL
- XRP burn rate
- Investor sentiment
The AI projected a potential price range of $3.50–$28 for XRP, but emphasized that the burn rate alone wouldn’t significantly impact supply. For context:
- 10 billion operations/year on XRPL would burn ~100,000 XRP ($230,000 at current prices).
- This is negligible against XRP’s 58 billion circulating supply.
However, Grok noted that utility-driven demand could be transformative. If RLUSD attracts institutional activity to XRPL, XRP’s role as a network fuel would become more critical, potentially increasing its value.
Market sentiment could also amplify gains. Ripple’s acquisition has already sparked excitement, and broader institutional adoption might further boost XRP’s price.
Price Forecast Scenarios
- Base case (6–12 months): $3.50–$4.50
- High adoption (1–2 years): $5–$10
- Bullish outlier: $28.55 (requires mass adoption and crypto market surge)
👉 Discover how institutional adoption is shaping crypto markets
FAQs
1. How does XRP’s burn mechanism work?
XRP is burned as transaction fees on XRPL, but the current rate has minimal impact on total supply. Demand and utility are greater price drivers.
2. Why is RLUSD important for XRPL?
RLUSD could attract institutional traders to XRPL, increasing network usage and demand for XRP as a bridge asset.
3. What factors could push XRP to $28?
Mass adoption, Ripple’s institutional partnerships, and a bullish macro crypto trend would be required.